A round-up of bars, bites, muffins, toast, and even cookies  to help power you through your next work-out.So you want to have healthy eating  and  exercise habits,  but  don’t know how  to integrate  both into your daily life?  A good place to start is focusing on proper fueling before a bout of exercise  and smart recovery afterwards.  Today’s post emphasizes the importance of pre-workout nutrition with a myriad of  snacks my colleagues helped me ’round-up’. (Stay tuned for more on post workout foods.)

While most attention regarding exercise pays close attention to strength, speed, flexibility and stamina,  we need to support all of these components with good nutrition. Studies are consistently proving, we perform best with some carbohydrates on board.  While I don’t recommend eating a meal just before  exercise, snacks  are a different story. A snack of about 100-200 calories (of primarily carbs can be consumed  just minutes prior to exercise) and will provide energy to focus on correct technique, push intensity, and help you persist through a vigorous energy expending workout.

There are an infinite number to foods to enjoy before physical activity. The key is to select food/foods based  on your preferences, and on the intensity and duration of your activity. Experiment with a variety of foods/fluids to determine what works best for you. Some simple ideas, include a banana, oranges slices, a couple of fig newtons, 1/2 jelly sandwich. You can even make your own energy snacks with a few ingredients. Find inspiration below with this  round-up of  bars, bites, muffins, toast,  and cookies all created to help power through your next work-out

No Bake Granola Bites via Lauren Sharifi of Bite of Health Nutrition

 

No Bake Protein Energy Bites via Tawnie Kroll  of Krolls Korner

Peanut Butter Yogurt Bars   via Hungry Hobby. These are super easy to make and especially nice in the summer, because you don’t have to turn on your oven.

Cashew Cookie Hemp Energy Bars via Kelly Jones of EatRealLiveWell 

Sweet Potato Toast via Family Food on the Table

Avocado and Hummus Bagel via No Excuses Health

No Bake Peanut Butter Cherry Trail Mix Bites via Bucket List Tummy 

Snack Bar Madeleines via Queen of My Kitchen. 

10 Minute Healthy Energy Bites via Nourish Nutrition .

 

PB & J Sweet Potato via Jessica Cording Nutrition Oatmeal Peanut Butter Protein Balls via And a Dash of Cinnamon

Soft Baked Zucchini Cookies via yours truely. I posted this back in April, but some of you may have zucchini to spare now, so I’m including it  in this round-up.

Please let me know what your fav pre-workout foods are in the comment section below. Have a terrific day!